Aeroplane.



G. Bk. SMITH. AEROPLAN'E.

'APPUCATION FILED JAN. 21. 1915K i Batented V-Man28, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

y @Qwm G. B. SMITH.

` A AEROPLANE. v

APPLICATJON FILED IA'N. 21,1915.

1,177,545. .Patented 1m.` 28,1916.l Y

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. B. SMITH.

Y AEROPLANE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. .'Zly 1915.

1 ,1 '77;545 Patented Mar. 28, 1.916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

. GLEN Bf SMITH, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS.'

AEROPLANE.

Specicatvion of Letters Batent. i

Patented Mar. as, 1916.

' -Application filed. January 21, 1915. .l Serial N o. 3,424.

To all whom t may cncem Bev i knownl that I, GLEN B. SMITH, va

citizen of the. United States, residing at` Fort Vorth, .in the county of Tarrant andV .State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes, of

which the following is a speci'cation.

Myinvention relates to'aeroplanes or. y-

ingmachines andv more particularly to the fuselage for aeroplanes; and the object is to improve the construction of thefuselage' for the purpose of securing double strength throughout thebody and yet provide fuselage which will be light and durable and to construct the rear part so that there will be more wind .surface in the altitude planes and also to provide 'an improved connection.

for the rudder. Another object is to provide` the rudder with direction levers for making th'erudderv safer and stronger.

Another' object is to provide the -landing I gearing with airfcushions.

Afurther object is to provide a'telescopic joint inthe central part of thefuselage.

lA further object is to provide sprocket gearing for thealtitude planessothat there I willbe no chance for play.

`pointed out in theclaims.. f Reference is hadto-,the accompanying drawings which form f a` partj of this ap 4 Aplication. I

Figure 1 is a plan view of the aeroplane..

1 Other objects and advantages will be fully explained in the following description and the invention will be #more particularly Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same. Fig. B'is a detail view of the frame of the'rudder. Fig.- 4t is a vertical section' of the aeroplane, taken on the line y-y of Fig-2, looking for ward. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line y-y of Fig. 2, looking backward.` Fig.. 6

.is afront elevation' of thefaeroplane. Fig.

' 7 is a vertical section of the same, taken on the line .avof Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is adetail view on an 'enlarged scaleof the connection of the rudder with the rear end of the fuse.- lage.

of the wings. Fig. 10- is a detail view of the gearing for operating the ruddenf Fig. 11 v is a longitudinal section of onevof th aircushion cylinders -of the landing gearing. Y

Similar eharactersof reference are used to lindicate the same parts throughout the several views. i

The fuselage is larger towardthe front F-ig. 9 is a detail 'plan view. of onepart 'than' toward the rear. The front Apart` l has longitudinal bars arranged in pairs 1-1 2-'2,j3+3, and a single central bar 4 at the bottom. The bars 1 1. and 3-3011 each side terminate substantially at the central 'partsi'with'long feather ends which engage the ends .of bars 5 .which extend to the rear end of the machine. The bars 2 also-termi- .natewith feather ends against the bars 5 at the central part. of the frame, thevends of. the bars 5 being telescoped in between the.

feather endsl ofthe bars 1-1,12 -2 and "39.3, and secured to these b ars in any suitable manner,as by rivets 64'. The rear-part` of vthe fuselage. has only four longitudinal bars,-the bars 5,- 5 and bars 6 and 11. AThebar 6 has a telescopic joint with bar .l at the central part of themachine. In the rear part of the fuselage, the` longitudinal bars are braced-by .horizontal bars 7 and vertical. l bars 8 which are gained into each other.

The yfuselage is -further'braced throughout its length by curved braces 9 which extend entlrely around the body. The covering 10 is placed on the outside of the curved braces 9. .In Figs.` 1 and 2, the covering 10 is omitted -for clearness, in illustration. For

the same reason only a few of thecu'rved braces 9 are shown. Atthe' rear end .the bars 5- are attached to a horizontal bar 16 which is connected to a piece v12 and `rigidly braced. The 4rudder 13 is pivotally connected to the upright 12 bya ball 'bearing connection at `111. ,'Ihhe' rudder is Aconstructed preferably of a" wooden frame shown 1in. Fig. 8, all the parts thereof being A wood except the thin steel cross-bars 15.

' The bar/12 and the-bar 16 may be gainedl'into each other. The bars.6fand.1l are attached to theupright 12. The bar'l-l is attached toabarl which extends forward.

' of the1 telescopic joint'inthe central part of the 'machine' 'The bars-'ll and 17 and the bars 4 and-'6 vare cut to-form feather endsand these-feather ends'lap on each other so j that there is vno enlargement to 'form continuous bars. The lapped ends are con- 'iiected to each other in any suitable manner.

The -interior bracing of the fuselage at the central part consists of'bars 18 soconnected tothe longitudinal bars4 as to form a quadthe fuselage, the principal bracing consists of` bars 19' which forman upright quadran ular. brace'f-there being aquadrangu- .lar race wherever needed. Th'eforward 'rangular b race.v Forward of the center of form.

lli

' means of part of the frame is further braced 'by the a strut 2l, resting against the.

bars Qd and bar( 4. The same form of bars 2O .and struts 21 are used to brace the bars 2.

22 is vertically mounted onf-the rear part of the machine and has a triangular `The rudder 13 and the fin 22 are con nected by a 'ballbearing connection at'Q,

which is `the same in construction as thatI shown in Fig. 8, hereinafter explained.

A vertical shaft 24'is supported in brackets 25 which are' secured to the tail piece 12. Ball bearing cups 26 are mounted above and below the brackets Q5. Caps 27 prevent the removalof the balls from the cups 26. The bearing is connected to the rudder by angle brackets 28 which' are attached to the rudder and through which the shaft 24 passes and the shaft 24 is secured in place by the nuts 29. rl`he rudder is thus connected to the ball bearings by the brackets 28. The rudder is provided with steering arms 30 'projecting horizontally therefrom for steerpart of the aeroplane and these planes may,

be of any approved construction and are provided with ailerons 38.

ln addition to the braces above described, interior braces are provided to brace the fuselage between each 'set ofibraces 'Z and 8 in the rear part of fuselage-and between the vbraceslS of tlie'front part and these braces consist of wire or cables 39 rundiagonally from the upper to thelower part and from side'to side wherever' needed.

rlhe'landing gearing includes wheels 4() which are carried in bearings on forks 4l and 42. rihe forks are hinged at 48 and the upper ends of the forks 4l and 4'2 are formed into plungers which enter aircushion tubes 44'and these tubes 44 are .hingedly connected to the lower front part of the fuselage; TWhen the machine is landing, the plungers on the forks Awill be forced into the tubes 44 against air,-making an elastic cushion for absorbing the shock of the machine striking y the ground. In order that the elements of the landing gearing may be returned to their normal pos1t1ons, a spiral spring 59 1s mountedin the cylinder 44 and the cylinder is' provided with a pet cock 60 for releasing.

the air in the cylinder after operation.

At the forward end of the fuselage, the longitudinal bars l,-l, 52-2, Aand 3 3 are `the opening or door.

attached to the respective uprights 45. The uprights 45 are braced by suitable crossbars 46 and diagonal braces 47. isprovided 'inthe top of the lfront part of the machine and an elliptical brace 48 surroundsvthe opening and forms a frame for A seat 49 is mounted on braces 50 which are attached to bars 51 which are attached to the bars 19. A canopy 552 is mounted over thedoor. The steer`- ing wheel 53 is mounted on astandard' 54. A sprocket wheel 55 is attached to the steering wheel 53 andl a Asprocket chain 56 Vis mounted on the sprockettwheel 55.A This sprocketchain is connected to the cables 3l whichrun under pulley wheels or idlers V57 and back to the levers 30 of the rudder 13. Planes 35 and 37 are shown attached to the aeroplane', andthese planes are of the ordinary construction and lwill not ybe set forth in detail. They are' omitted from `Fig. l2 for clearness in illustration, except' ,the inner framepiece 6l which is operated by a walking beam 62. V The walking beam 62 operatesthe planes on opposite lsides of the aeroplane by means of 'suitable cables An opening @which are operated from the standard 54. i

` A motor 5'? of approved design is used 'to drive the'propeller 58. Ilhe motor and the propeller are located in the front part of the machine` to 'be operated by the aerolnaut. As these elements form no part of "y invention, they will not be set forth in detail. l

'llllhat l claim is,

l. An aeroplane having a fuselage composed of a plurality of side longitudinal bars for the front part thereof terminating at the central part of the aeroplane with relatively long feather ends and a pair of side longitudinal bars for the rear part'of the aeroplane terminating at the centralpart of the machine with relatively long feather ends and connected to 'said first mentioned feather ends, and top and bottom longitudinalbars attached to the front and rear parts of the aeroplane and terminating with relatively long feather ends at the cen- 'tral part of the aeroplane, and means for attaching the featherends of the said front bars to the feather ends of the said rear bars. Y

2. naeroplane having` a fuselage in two parts joined together, each part having bars terminating with relatively long feather ends and the feather ends of the two parts being telescoped together, means attaching the feather ends together, quadrangular braces spacing said bars to operative posi tion, and cables for bracing saidbars and said quadrangular braces.

3. An aeroplane having a fuselage in two parts composed of longitudinal bars, said bars having relatively long feather ends telescoped together to form a juncture of 1o general cylindrical'form andthe bars terminating with vrelatively long feather ends to be telescoped together at the central portion of the machine to form said joint. o

In testimony whereof, I set my hand in the presence of two witnesses, this 17th 15 day of September, 1914.

' GLEN B. SMITH. Witnesses:

A. ,.L. JACKSON, J. W. STITT. 

